Daddy Dearest – Part Ten: Arundel

Xandra: TWO HUNDRED REVIEWS!!! YAY!!! ^_^ Okay, this one might start out a little shaky because I started writing it without any real plan in mind, but warning to Kaylana and Kai-Aki Ti (yes, you, Brat) keep your eyes open for little hints dropped about your cameos. ^_^ Enjoy this, because it will be the last update for at least a few more months (other stories to update and an original fic to support). Thanx!

Warnings: Mention of a character from another anime (I think you'll like this, Emily), foreshadowing, Miroku-angst. ****

"Oww! OWW! Mercy, already, I beg you, MERCY!"

Kagome shook her head and nudged Inuyasha as Sango continued to hold Miroku with his right arm pulled back over his shoulder while holding his left wrist behind his back. It looked like she was trying to intertwine his fingers, and if she succeeded before one of his shoulders came out of socket, it would be a miracle.

The hanyou smirked. Well, at least things were back to normal!

"You don't deserve mercy!" she spat at him, pulling harder. The monk cried out, pitifully, in her grasp. "You tried to KILL yourself, you idiot! What in the name of the gods were you THINKING?! You scared us all half to death, and I bet you didn't think of your SON for a minute! Not one minute! You selfish son-of-a-b--"

Inuyasha cleared his throat loudly as the front doors of the lord's mansion opened and the pretty nurse, Erika, escorted Mikiro out to where they were standing, Miroku on his knees in the grass with Sango holding him in a painful arm-lock. Upon his appearance on the stairs, the huntress let the monk go, kicking him in the back and sending him to the ground face-first. Needless to say, after the little fainting incident, she had realized how angry she was with him and decided to express it the moment they made it back to the clearing where the kind lord's mansion lay.

Mikiro rushed up and clung to Inuyasha's leg, looking up at him with his wide, blue eyes, and he smiled despite himself.

"Hey there, kid," he said, kneeling and allowing the boy to jump into his arms. The little boy adhered himself to his chest and he laughed. "Wow, you miss me or somethin'?"

"Or something," Mikiro whispered. "I thought you got hurt. It scared me."

"Aww!" Kagome cooed from nearby. "So cute!"

Rolling his eyes, Inuyasha stood, taking the tiny boy with him as he righted himself. He peeled him off the front of his kimono, then set him on his shoulders, smiling as he giggled and clung to his head instead. "I don't get hurt," he sighed, smiling weakly.

Through the corner of his eye, the half demon noticed Miroku, who was standing nearby, rubbing his right shoulder and staring at the scene that had just taken place with a placid but somewhat hurt expression. He didn't say anything, but Inuyasha could almost smell his fear and anguish.

//This isn't right,// he thought, sighing. He really liked Mikiro--the kid was almost addictive with that cute little smile and his shy manner--but he was Miroku's son, not his. He had no right to do this to the monk. Despite his own personal opinions on his fathering capabilities, he knew very well that he deserved a chance, and that he didn't deserve to suffer by watching as his impressionable son became paternally attached to another man. //Mikiro should be spending time with Miroku, not me...//

"We should go," Kagome said, softly. "I sense jewel shards somewhere nearby."

Nodding, Inuyasha looked directly at Miroku, who was still massaging his injured arm and staring at his sandals with a frown on his face. //Damn it, why should I have a conscience?//

~

The group of people continued on their way to take up their journey again, oblivious to the fact that they were no longer alone. After the failure of the demon stampede thanks to those annoying wolf youkai and their leader, Kouga, Lord Naraku had decided to shift the odds of his taking possession of their jewel shards in his favor. Of course, aside from bringing himself into the heart of danger, there was only one way to do that, and it was with a spy.

Sakura smirked as she surveyed the seven forms one by one from the dark cover of the woods as they passed her on the path. She had been watching them for some time, and she was slowly making her calculated notes on each of them. There was the kitsune, who was no real threat, and the demon exterminator and her fire-cat, who would be dealt with if THIS demon had anything to do with it. The human girl with the jewel fragment was a main target, though she and the little boy were no real threat. However, the monk was fast with that staff and very grouchy lately, and as for the half- bred dog-demon...well, he would be of use when mating season came around, but that was about all he was useful for. He had a nice face, a strong body, and his scent was ripe with male hormone, so he'd be easy to take care of with a little coaxing.

BUT she had a mission to think of. Pleasure was for later, thinking was for now. It should be easy enough. She waited until they passed, staying dead silent as she observed them each, then smirked. //This should be cake,// she thought. //Oh, you just keep questing with your little group, girl, because your dog-boy and that necklace will be mine before you reach the next town. You can bet on that.//

~

Something was very wrong, Mikiro could just sense it. Everybody was sad inside! Everybody, even SHIPPO, was sad! Inuyasha had been happy to see him, and so had Miss Kagome, but after a few seconds, he had gotten guilty over something, and she had too. Being a little kid was not fun, because he couldn't understand why everyone was sad!

One person in their group, however, practically radiated sad--his father. Miroku was frowning, and he looked horrible. His robe (the other one was missing!) was all dirty and ripped, his hair was messy and he smelled REALLY bad, like stagnant water and algae. He had a cut on his forehead, almost hidden by his matted hair, his hands were shaking as he held his staff, and he was walking a little funny, like he'd been hit really hard with a wall or something and was still having trouble getting back on his track. He looked so hurt and tired, and inside, he felt like he was dying. Mikiro almost wanted to get away from Inuyasha, just to get away from that feeling, because he could feel it in his heart like he WAS Miroku, and it made him wanna be sick and cry at the same time.

Why did he feel so bad? Why did he LOOK so bad? What was wrong with him, and why had everybody made him go back to the mansion in the morning? Oh, being little was so confusing!

He suddenly sensed a feeling he didn't recognize, like the feeling that he got when he was trying to be sneaky--when he wanted something that he shouldn't. It wasn't coming from anybody in the group...but it was there. Was somebody else here that they didn't see?

Mikiro looked around a little bit, frowning, then shook it off. Nope, nobody else was around! //Gee,// he thought, //Maybe I'm just confused again or something...I wonder why he's so hurt, though...// He glanced at Miroku again, then frowned deeper. //Too bad I can't read minds...//

****

They walked for...well, what felt to Mikiro like forever, until finally, they came to a place that looked funny. There, set up in a clearing in the woods, was something that looked sort of like a town, but it was different. There were tents set up all over in different colors and lots of little kids were running around, singing and playing games, and here and there, people from a village they had passed were milling about, talking to the colorfully-dressed people hanging around.

"Wow," he heard Shippo whisper.

Inuyasha frowned. "What's with all this?"

"Oh, it looks like a carnival!" Kagome cried.

A corn evil? That sounded odd, but then again, it LOOKED odd too!

"They're gypsies, probably migrating to this area from somewhere up in Romania," Miroku said, tonelessly. He still looked really bad, and he looked old, too, almost like Mommy--but she looked less sick and more pretty. "Wars up there, worse than here. They're dangerous, we should skirt them."

"Oh, come ON, Miroku!" Kagome exclaimed, grabbing his arm and startling him. "In my time, we learn about them, and they aren't really that bad! They just like to entertain people--see? Look there!" She pointed at the villagers milling about, and they all looked pretty happy. "They're all having fun--come on, we can spare a while to look around! Besides, I think I sense a jewel shard around here." She gave Inuyasha a look that said everything.

He was on her side here! It looked like fun, and there were other kids, too! Mikiro looked down at him from his shoulders, moving his ears to either side with his hands and smiling, and the hanyou frowned back, huffing as his eyebrows came together. "Inu-san?" he whispered into one of the ears. "Please? Can we? Please?"

Inuyasha scowled, then looked at Kagome, who was shifting from one foot to the other in excitement, tugging on San-san's sleeve. She was starting to look like she had to potty. "Are you SURE you sense a jewel shard?"

"I don't," Miroku murmured, flatly. San-san nailed him in the side with her elbow and he shut up fast, the dull expression still in place. He felt dead inside now, like he felt nothing. Oh, pooh on grown-ups! They made no sense!

"Well Kagome DOES, so button it, dolt!" San-san spat. Kirara, who was on her shoulder now in her little kitty form, nodded in agreement, and Miroku didn't say anything else.

Mikiro jumped as Miroku suddenly felt like a knife stabbed him right in the chest. //Uh-oh, I think San-san hurt him...did she hit him THAT hard? I don't understand...//

"Oh, fine--but if there ISN'T a jewel shard and I find out, we are leaving."

Kagome cheered and gave Inuyasha a hug, and he blushed in response, trying to keep frowning, though deep inside he was happy that she was happy. She and San-san quickly took off into the weird little village, vanishing from sight.

Inuyasha, Shippo, Mikiro and Miroku all blinked, then looked at each other. For a moment, Miroku looked at the little boy on the hanyou's shoulders, but before Mikiro could even make eye-contact with him, he looked away, dragging his eyes to the ground. Inuyasha didn't notice. "Wha'da ya think, Miroku? Do we go after them or wait here?"

He sighed, sadly. "I guess it couldn't hurt too much, as long as we all watch our possessions very carefully. They like to take things, as far as I know, and if I were you, I'd keep a good hold on anything small and light."

Mikiro frowned. //I don't need holding onto!// he thought, bitterly.

Suddenly, Shippo's tail fuzzed up and he looked around, sniffing. "Huh?"

"What is it, Shippo?" Inuyasha asked.

"I smell another kitsune!" he exclaimed. With that said, he looked up at the monk, the boy and the half-demon and saluted. "It's a GIRL one, too! See ya!" He turned and took off into the woods.

Inuyasha growled, cupping his hands around his mouth. "Shippo! Wait, come back here you little--"

"Let him go," Miroku murmured, stepping away from him. Mikiro blinked as he headed off in another direction. "I'm going to try and find Sango so I can recover the other half of my normal outfit. Do what you like, but be careful."

The hanyou scoffed. "Hey! You're ditching me too?! Come ON Miroku, don't go!"

Mikiro's father paused in mid-step, planting the base of his staff almost harshly in the ground. "You're not alone," he said, coldly, turning only slightly on the toe of his sandal and looking back over his shoulder at Inuyasha and the boy himself. He frowned, slightly, then sighed as his eyes fell across the smaller of the two. "You have Mikiro with you." Turning, he continued onward away from them and disappeared near one of the colorful tents.

Mikiro blinked again. Was he sad...because of him? Maybe. Mommy had always told him to be nice to other people, but he hadn't been nice to Miroku, and after all, he had saved him a few times already. He sorta owed it to him...but he was scared. He didn't know what to do now. Today was so confusing!

Inuyasha sighed, then scooped him up and took him off his shoulders, setting him on his little sandaled feet. "Mikiro," he said, a sad look that didn't fit him at all on his face, "I think your father's mad at me...and I think I'd better do something about it pronto or this trip might get a whole lot less fun."

He blinked. "...Hmm?"

"You hang out here, I'm gonna go try to catch him, okay?"

Inuyasha patted his head, then jumped up into the trees above them and was gone.

Mikiro blinked. Okay, nothing made sense now! //Oh, pooh!// he thought, stamping his foot. //I'm not THAT little, why do they have to leave me out all the time?! ACK!//

He turned around to try and determine which way Shippo had disappeared in, then froze as he ran right into something soft and shiny. He blinked, then looked up. It was...a tail? Yep, a tail, all right, and a fluffy one, kinda like Shippo's, but just yellow, instead of RED and yellow. Where did it come from? Tails didn't just appear in the middle of paths. Curious, he gave it a little tug.

"OWW!"

He jumped, then peeked around it. OH! It was stuck to a little girl!

Wait, a little girl with a fuzzy tail?

"What?" he asked, curiously.

She turned around and frowned at him, her gold eyes narrowed severely as she rubbed her bottom. "HEY! What are you doin' pullin' my tail?! It's not nice pullin' people's tails! How would you like it if I pulled YOURS?"

He blinked. "I don't have a tail," he said, slowly, glancing back momentarily at his own bottom.

She blinked back at him, then jumped back, crossing her arms in front of her face. "EWW! HUMAN! GET AWAY!"

"Huh?"

She paused, then slowly tilted her head, pinning him with a weird look. "Aren't you poisonous? Don't you spit fire or shoot lasers outta your eyes or somethin' scary like that?"

"Um..." he blinked again, "No?"

She took a step closer. "No." He nodded and she took another step. "You're sure now."

"Um...I have a hole in my hand...but it doesn't work, so yes."

"No weapons?"

"Uh-uh."

"No evil death traps?"

"Nope."

"No wind-tunnel thingy that eat demons in your hand with a BIG purple light and a whole lota sucking?"

He paused, looking at his right hand with a frown, then shook his head. //Doesn't work, so I guess it doesn't count.// "Nuh-uh."

Slowly, she stepped closer, until she was nose to nose with him. She looked a lot like a girl version of Shippo (would there even be a difference if he was a girl himself?) but her hair was yellow instead of red and down, almost like Mikiro's was. She smiled. "What's your name?"

"Uh...Mikiro Tatsubashi--I'm a human. Who are you?"

"I'm Akaly-na, I'm a kitsune." She smiled, sweetly, and he realized for a second time that she was a girl. A pretty girl. HIS size. He blushed and she giggled, pinching his cheek. "You all alone here, Mikiro?"

He nodded. "They left me."

"Oh, I see. Wanna play a game?"

He blinked. Mommy told him not to play with strangers...but she wasn't so strange, and she seemed okay, so maybe it was all right to break the rules just once. "Okay..."

"Okay...and the game we will play is..." Suddenly, she reached into his robes and ripped the rope from around his neck, taking his Mommy's special jewel with it. He gasped and she giggled, then put the necklace on and took off into the forest. "CAPTURE THE PRETTY ROCK!"

He gawked, then hurried off after her. Oh, he had to get it back! Mommy would never forgive him if he didn't! "HEY! BRING THAT BACK TO ME, IT'S MY MOMMY'S!"

"HA-HA! COME AND *GET* IT, MIKIRO!"

Without thinking, he chased Akaly-na right into the woods and away from the camp, forgetting Inuyasha's cautioning and his mother's rules completely.

~

Miroku felt like the refuse he resembled, but he wasn't going to go whining about it. What point was there in doing that, anyway? Whining wouldn't undo what he had done to Kiori, it wouldn't restore the years she had lost, and it wouldn't get him back his son, and besides, Sango was furious with him and she was the only conceivable person that he COULD complain to.

That was fine, though. He deserved to suffer with the aftermath of his own idiocy. God knew, Kiori had lived with his mistake for three years. He owed her more than he could ever repay in any amount of lifetimes for taking her innocence, her childhood, her heart and her home and destroying it all in one lustful act that he had so easily misplaced in his mind. How he had forgotten it still eluded him, but he had nonetheless, and not only was the fact that he had actually done what he had sickening, but the fact that he had completely omitted it from his memory like nothing at all was as well.

//I don't deserve that little boy,// he thought, frowning, as he trudged among the colored tents aimlessly. //I don't deserve anyone.//

Kagome and Sango were somewhere in here, but finding them in this condition would be no good fortune. He looked terrible, he felt terrible, and besides, Sango would just say something cruel to him and send him packing if he asked for the other half of his robe.

Presently, he was lucky to be wearing the under half of it, the navy blue part, but it was still uncomfortable.

Then again, that arm-lock she had put him in had been MUCH more uncomfortable, so he would avoid her for now, until he found a way to somehow make amends in her eyes. In the meantime, he'd have to go to town and make a bargain for a temporary replacement.

He paused, then, as a little girl stepped out in front of him, blinking. She was nine or so, and very pretty for her youth, a smile written on her lovely face. Her dark hair was back in a colored kerchief and her eyes, shining an unearthly violet, were wide with innocence and kindness, as she stood in her colorful kimono, smiling up at him. He raised an eyebrow. "Can I help you, young lady?" he asked.

She nodded, then shuffled up and put out her hands. "Let me read your future! I'm practicing!"

Normally, fortune telling was a pointless idea to him, but for some reason, this cute girl had a magnetism to her that made him want to humor her. Perhaps it was her adorable face, or her cute tenacity that made her so lovable. In either case, he sighed, smiling weakly, and knelt down, inclining his head. "What's your name?"

"Oh, me? I'm Kaorushin Himura!"

"What a unique name."

"Yes, because my Mommy's name is Kaoru and my Daddy's name is Kenshin! Kaorushin! See it? They named me from both of their names because they love me!"

He nodded, smiling lightly, but then, his smile disappeared. Kaorushin was made from the suffix of Shin from her father and her mother's name, Kaoru-- just like Mikiro was made from the prefix Ki from Kiori set between the first two syllables of Miroku, Mi and Ro. It made him feel bad again.

Kaorushin frowned slightly, "Oh, don't be sad. My Daddy says people are happier when they smile."

"What does your Daddy know about bad deeds?" he murmured, more to himself than her.

Surprisingly, she had an answer, and it startled him. "Oh, lots. He was a murderous samurai and he killed tons and tons of people with his sword. People tell me his hair is red because it's dyed with blood."

Miroku's heart leapt into his throat. "What?!" he choked. That was the LAST response he had expected!

Kaorushin nodded. "Yes, he was the worst, known all over the place, but one day he decided that he didn't want to hurt people anymore, and he made up for his sins by protecting the innocent and never killing again. Well, almost never--but he only killed bad people, and most of the time he just hurt 'em. That's how he met my Mommy and made me!" She paused, then giggled. "If you can't guess, I try not to get in trouble too much! Making him mad is hard, but when you can do it--whew!"

He frowned again. How strange it seemed, but there was a connection here. A murderer had made up for his sins by doing good...and killing was one of the worst things one could do, almost worse than what he himself had done...so what did that mean for him? Could he really make it up somehow, his sin to Kiori and his son? Was there some way he could clear his name? "Did your father clear ALL of his sins?"

"Yes. Mommy tells me that he did, because he was a good man inside and because he was willing to give up his life for others. That's the best way to get rid of sins, to sacrifice yourself for the innocent...or, at least Daddy says so." She beamed.

Miroku nodded to himself. It seemed that the cases were indeed much too different to be compared, but the story of the girl's father would serve as a reminder that not all evil is always as it seems. Perhaps...perhaps, someday, he could find a way to clear his soul, and until then he would try to do as her father did and stop the evil he performed...stop lying to people, stop tricking them. Maybe then he would be freed of these sins that haunted him so--the ones that always had. "Thank you for your story, Kaorushin. You have been very helpful to me."

"But wait!" she exclaimed. "I want to tell your fortune first! That's why I'm here--I read palms!"

He laughed, though it wasn't that funny; it was probably due to the sudden lightness in his heart, now that he knew he had a chance to someday clear his soul of guilt. "Why are you not with your parents, little one?" he asked.

She shrugged. "I like swords okay, but magic is better, so I'm learning some so I can help my Mommy invent a new kind of fighting technique! If I can learn to read the future right, the way my mistress is teaching me, then I can teach everybody else to do it too, and then it'll be hard to lose if you know what's coming!" She put her hands out to him again. "I need your hand, please."

Sighing, Miroku offered her his left hand, but she shook her head and he frowned. "What is it?"

"I need your right hand so I can read your palm. Right hand is always the one that says everything about your life."

He blinked, then looked at his palm, staring hard at the hole there. //I wonder,// he thought, frowning, //If I have a hole in my palm...what would that mean? That I have no future?// He shuddered at the revelation. He had been told that since the day of his birth, that because he had a hole in his hand his future was uncertain. Slowly, he offered it to her.

Kaorushin took it in her own, spreading his fingers away from the sealed hole, then paused and tapped at the edge of it. "Huh! You have a big black spot on your hand!"

"It's a hole...a death curse..." he murmured, drawing her attention, "When it gets big enough, it will swallow me up and I will die."

"Oh...that's odd!" she said, her eyes shining, "and sad! Oh, I'm sorry, sir!"

He sighed, shaking his head. "Don't be, it's predestined. I assume you can't read my future if I have none."

She inspected his hand for a while, tilting it slightly, and he wondered momentarily what she was doing, but after a long moment of silence, she smiled. "Oh, how neat!"

"What is it?"

"The hole seems to pull the lines down, and I can read your future up to that point! I guess when the lines meet the hole, you die!"

He jumped.

She paused, frowning. "Oh, oops. That's bad...but maybe...that way, you know when you die? So you can tell how much time you have? Would that be good, or would it be bad?"

//Do I really want to know?// he wondered. After a moment, the answer was clear, and he nodded. "Tell me what you see, then."

Nodding herself, she spread his fingers away from his palm again and started carefully tracing lines, murmuring to herself. "Hmm...your life- line was long, but it looks like the hole started right on it and grew, and every time it gets bigger, the line gets shorter..."

That made a good amount of sense, unfortunately. Miroku stayed quiet and watched, curious and interested at the same time.

"Hmm...lemme see...okay, I think this little crease here means...hmm...and...OH!"

He jumped as shock spread across her cute little face, gasping reflexively. "What? What is it?"

"...oh, that's sad..."

"Are you going to tell me or do I have to guess?" he asked, impatiently.

Kaorushin frowned, then put her finger on a diagonal line leading upward from the side of his hand opposite his thumb. "This is different...it looks like the line of another person ties in here, a love-line. It means that your true love is near you."

He blinked, silently.

She continued tracing it up to the life-line, then paused at the edge of the air-rip and frowned further. "Oh no!" she exclaimed, tapping the life- line on the other side of the hole. Just scarcely, there was visible a connection between the other line and the longer one, but it had been severed by the hole, or so it looked. "So close! That's not fair!"

He sighed, exasperatedly. "WHAT isn't fair? I'd prefer knowing what you're talking about!"

"When the love-line meets the life-line, it means you find true love, but...but for a while, yours is really close, not meeting it, and the hole cuts it off...I think that means you die right before you're supposed to meet your true love..."

Miroku felt his brain go numb. //Oh gods...//

"Oh, if only this hole were a little bit smaller!" Kaorushin exclaimed, shaking his hand angrily like a faulty toy, "It's not fair that you should die like that!"

//The last time it expanded, it cut any chances I may have had with anyone...// He frowned, deeply, agony gripping him. How cruel a fate, to die without love...

She paused again, frowning too. "Hmm. I see you will battle with someone you love, and outcome will be a tragedy...a failure."

He was amazed that she could see so much just by staring at the lines on his hand, but then again, he didn't know much about palmistry. Perhaps it didn't involve only the lines. "I will lose?"

"How could you NOT lose?" she murmured.

At first, he thought this was an insult, and then he rethought it. If he would battle someone he loved, win or lose, he would find no real victory-- especially if it was tragic. If he died, he will have failed in his quest, but if he killed his opponent, someone he loved would be dead. She was right...when fighting a loved one, there was no winning. "Who will I fight?" he asked, finally.

"It's unclear."

"Man or woman?"

"A man."

That solved it. The only two he could possibly fight would be Sango and Inuyasha, and if it was a man, then it was the latter, of course. //Why would I fight Inuyasha? What could he or I possibly do to each other that would start something negative between us?// Was it even possible to WIN against him, and if so, would he want to do it? //Damn it, THIS is why Mushin said the future is not for knowing. It makes no sense, known or not!// "Why would I fight this man?"

"I don't know, I can only see so much with this hole here, sir."

He sighed, then looked up at Kaorushin began idly fiddling with his rosary-- no, KIORI'S...he had to give it back eventually. "Is there a way to change anything you've seen?"

"Nuh-uh," she said, sighing, "That's why there ARE lines on people's hands in the first place--because their fate is predestined from the day of their birth."

A thought occurred to the monk as he sat there in silence with the dark- haired girl. Perhaps that was why his father hadn't had a chance against Naraku...because he had been destined to fail. //I wonder...// "Kaorushin, which line on the palm is the life-line?"

She pointed. "This one. See? It's split by the hole, but normally, you'd live a long time, because it goes clear to the other side of your hand. If it weren't for this hole--"

"So if the hole hadn't expanded to cut the line, I would have lived a full life," he said, flatly. She nodded and he sighed. That explained why it grew! However, if the air-rip could've been abolished BEFORE it cut into it, maybe he would have lived longer! DAMN it!

She frowned. "I'm sorry, sir...but maybe I read it wrong!" Her expression brightened. "YEAH! That's it! I'm just a beginner!" Grasping his hand with more force, she pulled him to his feet and tugged him along with her into the sea of tents. "Come on, I'll get my mistress to tell you about it!"

"Your mistress?" he asked.

"Yes!" Kaorushin exclaimed. "You must come! She can show you what you need to see! She's the best!"

Miroku allowed the young girl to tug him into a large, black tent, seated at the heart of the camp, and upon entering, the darkness swallowed them, making the monk exceedingly uncomfortable. It brought him terrible visions of oblivion, the cold darkness he faintly remembered being trapped in only hours ago. It was a frightening memory, and this reminder was not a welcome one.

"Mistress," Kaorushin said, suddenly. "I have a man here that needs your guidance--"

"He needs nothing," a deep, female voice hissed from within the darkness. Upon hearing it, Miroku's natural ability to sense malevolence sent him a violent warning that felt like a blow to the chest, but he kept the reaction a silent one, flinching invisibly. The voice came again, and with it, a shadowy purple illumination lit up the tent ever so slightly, making visible a dark form seated opposite them, "I know why you have brought him, Kaorushin. Away with you, child."

"Yes, Aru-san." She bowed, then gave Miroku's hand a little pat and ducked outside, disappearing from sight.

He frowned, slightly, then turned his attention to the concealed woman. He could sense a deep-rooted darkness in her, but he said nothing, for fear of inviting her wrath. Something was very wrong here. "I have come for no guidance, madam," he said, carefully, "The child simply insisted that I come, so if you don't mind, I will take my leave."

"I do indeed mind," the woman said. The light that had so suddenly broken the darkness was radiating from a sphere enclosed in her hands, and as she spoke, the violet light brightened, illuminating her dark form only a tad bit more. It seemed as if the shadows were drawn to her. "Come forward-- Miroku."

He jumped. "How--"

"Silence," she spat. He closed his mouth, then noted with a gulp that she was sitting at a table, and there was a chair across from her, which she seemed to be staring at from within the darkness of her hooded cloak. "I am Arundel, and you, monk, come to me with an uneasy spirit. Sit, and I will tell you what you desire to know."

Hesitantly, Miroku followed the directive, sitting in the chair across from her. However, before he could so much as open his mouth, she cut him off.

"You wish to know how and when you will die, and the events leading up to it," she said. "I know you better than you would want to know, Miroku. I know of your feared sin--your illegitimate son born by the lady Kiorinigh Tatsubashi--and I know of your activities in the last several days--the battles with those youkai the koketsu, your moment of bravery at the mansion of the lord and your failed suicide attempt. I know all, including what you have done, what you are thinking and what you will do before you die. You may ask two questions of me concerning any happening past, present, future or alternate future, and then be gone."

"Alternate future?" he asked, blinking. She nodded her concealed head and he frowned, slightly. "Could you clarify that, please?"

"An alternate time would be a reality that would have resulted had one made different choices than they have. For example, what may have happened to your family had your bloodline not been cursed by the air-rip, what your life may have been like."

He blinked as a sudden burning curiosity struck him. "I...have two things I may ask." She nodded. "Anything." She nodded again and he made a decision, glancing down at his right hand with a sigh. "I...I want to know...if I will die soon, as Kaorushin said, and if so, I wish to know of the events that will lead up to my end."

She nodded again, then lifted the glowing sphere to eye-level, surprising him. "That much is simple. You will die before the next new moon."

He flinched, his eyes widening. //That's barely two weeks...//

"Before that time, you will battle a two-faced curiosity, go against your instincts, be betrayed by a woman of many forms, lose two great treasures at the hand of an enemy for your foolishness, battle a loved-one and lose, become a better person than ever before--and then you will die."

//What a riveting chain of events,// he thought, wryly. //Well, that's better than dying bored.// "Spectacular," he murmured.

"You waste your sarcasm," Arundel said, flatly. "Your second question, or you can leave. Make a decision."

What a rude woman! She had to be one of the few he had met that he was NOT attracted to in the SLIGHTEST. He hesitated a moment, wondering if it was worth it to ask, but he quickly decided that it was. "You said you know my sin, abandoning Lady Kiori with my child...so...could you show me what my life would be like had I stayed with her that night instead of running away...?"

Arundel nodded again, and the violet sphere in her hands suddenly turned white. "Look here, and you will see what you wish to see."

Miroku leaned a bit closer and peered into the blinding light, squinting against the brightness, and slowly, an image became apparent, weak at first but steadily growing clearer until it was like watching it in a dream...

~{The scene was of Kiori's bedroom, where he had abandoned her that night after using her, but in this reality, he did not leave. For a moment, the temptation to run flashed over his features, but instead of following it, he laid back down and shut his eyes, deciding against it. As he remembered it, he had stolen her necklace and lost his original rosary, then called Hachi and left her, but here, he didn't.

In moments, the noise in the hallway commenced, and the captain of the guard, Cai, along with his men began banging on the door. This woke Kiori with a shock, and she blinked, then gasped. "Oh no, the guards!" she whispered. Then, she looked around and blushed, frowning. "Oh my, this is going to end badly! You should go, I'll distract them."

Miroku shook his head as she jumped up and quickly pulled on her nightclothes, then grabbed a sheet and wrapped it around his waist. "I said I'm staying with you, my lady, and I am not changing my mind."

"But--"

He covered her mouth. "You heard me."

Kiori frowned, then hopped up and kissed him, surprising him slightly. She hugged him. "I won't let them hurt you...I don't care what my father says, I love you."

"And I you, Kiori."

The door suddenly flew open and Cai stormed in, sword drawn, anger filling his eyes, and Miroku instantly pushed Kiori behind him, facing the huge soldier despite his scarcely-covered state. "NOW you've done it, you little bastard--I'll KILL you!"

"Do what you will, I'm not afraid of you," he said, bravely. It was apparent that he was afraid (Miroku knew himself well enough to spot that much) but he was hiding it quite well, especially for a mostly naked, unarmed monk that had just slept with a blood-thirty lord's only daughter.

Cai lifted the sword to strike him, but before he could so much as move to hurt the dark-haired young man, Kiori stepped in front of him, wrapping her arms around his neck and drawing him close to her, protectively. He scowled. "Lady Kiorinigh, move!"

"I won't!" she snapped. "I won't let you kill him! I love him!"

"How could you love a creature like THAT?! He's a liar and a fake--he's USING you, my lady, you must understand--"

"Stand DOWN, Cai!" she commanded. "Miroku is nothing like what you may think. He's generous, brave, daring and good and nothing you say will change that in my mind, and if you so much as splay one hair on his head I'll have you gutted, I mean it! If you don't believe me, just try it--you won't touch him without going right through me."

Miroku blinked. "Lady Kiori..."

The guard stared, and his men did much of the same, so Kiori took the liberty of ordering them to leave before she had them all hanged for intruding on her. Then, she turned to Miroku. "So you're really going to stay, Miroku?" she asked.

He nodded. "I will not leave you...I have no reason to."}~

//Had I stayed, I would not have died,// he thought, bitterly. //So I left her for nothing...I AM a bastard...//

"There is more," she said, flatly. "Do not waste my time and power with your ignorant thoughts."

He sighed, then turned his attention to the globe again, peering into it.

~{There within the sphere of light lay a vision of the beautiful garden that lay behind the great mansion of Lord Korosu, and playing there amongst the flowers was a familiar little boy, but he looked much different. He was dressed in clean, regal-looking robes with his hair pulled back out of his face into a little ponytail, and he wasn't wire-thin, but well fed and healthy. He was neither pale nor as small as he was in reality, and he looked happy--very happy. He was playing idly with the little golden coronet he wore around his head as he watched over a squirming, copper- haired baby girl, wrapped in a blue cloth and cooing at a flower that lay nearby.

(Miroku felt his heart stop at the sight.)

Mikiro laughed as the little baby tried to grab at it. "Silly Kimi! Don't do that, the flower is okay where it is!"

"Are you talking to your sister again?" a familiar voice asked. It was Miroku, but he looked much different, just as his son did. He was dressed in royal-looking, scarlet robes with a golden coronet like his son's encircling his forehead. He looked less mussed and more poised, and (if it were at all possible) much more mature than he currently did. He was a fine figure of a man (the sight made the monk sick and almost jealous).

The moment he appeared, the little boy jumped up and leapt into his arms, giggling. "Daddy!"

"Good to see you too, Mikiro," Miroku chuckled, patting his son's head. "Why are you out here with her? She should be inside."

"Yes, but I like nature! It's pretty, and the mansion is boring!"

"YOU should be grateful--I was not raised in such a place."

"YOU were lucky!" Mikiro retorted, sharply. "I'm bored, Daddy!"

Miroku rolled his eyes. "That may be true, but you are SAFE, and that is all that matters to me. I would rather you be bored and safe than entertained out THERE. I don't know what I'd do if anything happened to you."

"You'd save me, that's what! You could beat up ANY monster or demon, couldn't you, Daddy?"

The older man smirked. "Of course I could. Then again, if I was half as capable as you think I am, I could probably fly and change the weather."

"Can't you do that now?"

He laughed, mussing the boy's hair. "Maybe in your world, Mikiro, but here, I'm just your father."

"You're my DADDY," Mikiro corrected him, scoldingly, "and that's enough for me." He hugged him.

Suddenly, another person came into the scene, dressed in a shimmering red kimono embroidered with black roses, her copper hair suspended up in a neat bun. It was Kiori, and unlike in reality, she was still as stunning as she had been when the monk had met her--actually, she was even MORE beautiful, divine even. She picked the baby girl up, then kissed her son on the cheek. "And what are you two carrying on about now?" she asked, eyeing Miroku.

He shrugged. "Nothing important."

"Daddy's the best, that's what we're carrying on about, Mommy!" Mikiro cheered. His parents laughed and his baby sister cooed, cutely.

"We had better go in now, or else Kimi may catch a cold," Kiori sighed.

Miroku bowed, then set his son down. "After you, my lady."

She smiled, then kissed him on his nose. "How kind, my lord."

Arm in arm, the couple headed back to the mansion with their adorable little boy skipping after them, the picture of human serenity and happiness. As they disappeared into the vast building, exchanging a loving look, the scene faded}~

Miroku would have given anything for a sword right then, so he could behead himself. His own cowardice had cost him all of that. He could have had EVERYTHING--a title, vast riches, a home, a beautiful wife...a family that wanted him...his son's love--and he'd given it up because he was a coward. Because he had no backbone. The realization was crushing, and he hated himself more than ever before right then. He slumped down in the chair, fighting the myriad of emotions bubbling within him, ranging from anguish and despair to hatred and self-loathing. //I am a fool...the greatest of them all...// he thought, bitterly. //I want to die more now than ever...//

Arundel's sphere took on the violet tone again and illuminated the tent, bringing him from his dark thoughts. "Remember, monk, that t'was YOU that asked to see it, so blame me not for what you witnessed."

"I don't," he sighed, sadly, lowering his head. "I blame myself...what a fool I am...I destroyed everything and why? Because I am an idiot, a craven dolt with nothing more to show for his own ignorance than an unhealthy, illegitimate child and a blackened soul. Had I stayed, Kiori would still be a lady, I a lord and my son would care for me instead of fearing me, and I would not be here right now feeling so terrible. I ruined everything."

"I could have told you that, I could," Arundel hissed. "Now you may depart, for I sense if you do not you will lose much more than you have already because of your pitiful sulking."

He sat bolt upright, staring across the table at her as a sudden bad feeling hit him. "What do you mean by that?" he demanded, worriedly. Just the words alone had set him on guard.

She said nothing, but instead, she lifted the ball of light in her thin, gloved hands and rotated it, and it turned a bright shade of blue, further illuminating the dark tent. With a flash, Miroku felt a wave of warmth rush over his skin, and he realized as he looked down that his damaged and half- missing outfit had been completely restored, every threat of the fabric in perfect condition, dry, intact and clean. "Use your mind, monk. You're smarter than you look, of course, for it is unfeasible for any man to be THAT stupid--you should be able to decipher it."

He paused a moment, concentrating on her words and ignoring the insult, then gasped. "Mikiro!"

"Very good."

He leapt from the chair, overturning it, and left the tent, calling a quick, "Thank you!" over his shoulder to the dark woman before exiting the tent and stepping into the blinding sunlight. Allowing his eyes to adjust quickly, he peered around, locating Inuyasha instantly.

The hanyou was standing with Shippo and the girls, looking bored, and he looked up as the monk stumbled to them. "Miroku, where've you been at? We've been looking for you!"

"Wow, you take a bath or something?" Shippo asked, pointing at his robes. "You don't look dead anymore!"

"Probably conned one of the gypsies into it," Sango murmured to Kagome, who sighed and shook her head.

Miroku ignored the annoyance and pain sparked by all the statements and looks he was getting and went right to Inuyasha, grabbing his collar. "Where is Mikiro?!" he demanded.

The dog-boy blinked. "What?"

"My SON!" he shouted, tensely, hating the confused look the half-demon wore. His heart's palpitations were already at double speed, and as he observed the void look his companion wore, it sped up so fast breathing became nearly impossible. "I left him with YOU--where is my SON, Inuyasha?! Where IS he?!"

The hanyou pushed him off, scoffing. "Sheesh! I told him to stay on the path so I could find you, you ass! Calm DOWN!"

"CALM DOWN?!" he practically shrieked, his voice cracking terribly. "YOU LEFT MY SON ALONE ON A BARREN PATH IN A GYPSY CAMP AND YOU EXPECT ME TO CALM DOWN?!" Growling angrily, he shoved him aside and bolted off through the camp, ripping past people and tents like they weren't there at all, hell-bent on getting to the path. His sixth sense was practically screaming at him that something was very wrong, and all he knew was that he had to get there. //Please, if the gods are merciful, let him be there...//

He came to a literal screeching halt as he reached the edge of the camp, and his heart's violent beating stopped dead. Mikiro was gone. The monk's knees went out and he hit the ground, staring at the path as his mind began to race.

Arundel's words echoed in his mind. /'Now you may depart, for I sense if you do not you will lose much more than you have already because of your pitiful sulking.'/

"He's gone..." he whispered, faintly. He realized numbly as he sat there that he had left him in Inuyasha's care, and it took him only another second to remember that the boy wasn't even old enough to read by normal standards. He was intelligent, but he was still a baby by all rights, and now he was lost somewhere in the forest, alone. Once again, he had managed to lose something so precious...and he could do nothing about it.

~

Akaly-na danced away from the boy again as he lunged at her, exhaustedly, and she laughed, playing with his pretty necklace as he lay on the grass, breathless and upset. "Oh, come on, Mikiro! You can do better than THAT!" she taunted.

Mikiro gasped and panted in the grass as the little blonde-haired kitsune danced around him, giggling madly. He had been chasing her for a long time, and he was tired and mad and he wanted his dream-stone necklace back. It was his Mommy's and he knew if he didn't get it back, she'd be sad. That, and it was all he had left of her. "Please..." he whispered, tearfully, "I just want it back...I don't wanna play anymore, I just want my necklace..."

She frowned, pausing. "Oh, c'mon, don't cry! I'm just playin'!"

"I don't want to play, I want my necklace back!" he moaned, tears streaming down his cheeks. He wasn't supposed to cry, but he couldn't help it. He was just so upset and tired and mad and scared, because he didn't know where he was and she was running him around too much. He just wanted somebody to come and save him.

Suddenly, a pair of legs appeared behind Akaly-na, and with a squeal, she disappeared from sight, surprising Mikiro. "You give that over, brat," a girl's voice said.

Mikiro looked up and was surprised to see a pretty lady about as old as Inu- san and the others standing there in a short, sleeveless green robe that tied at the waist and made her legs and chest show a lot. Her white-blonde hair was tied back with a green bandanna and her eyes, which were the same color, strangely enough, were narrowed, and she had a mean look on her face. She was holding the little kitsune by the tail in the air. The moment he looked at her, the painful feeling that meant a bad thing was near hit him and he whimpered, but didn't cry. He watched as the lady took his necklace from Akaly-na and dropped her.

"Oww!" the kitsune bawled. She looked up at her. "Hey, that was mean! I was just playing with him!"

"Well now I'M gonna play with him," the green-clad woman spat, harshly. Suddenly, Akaly-na gasped and backed away from her, looking scared. "BEAT IT, brat."

The little fox-girl whimpered a little, then looked at Mikiro. "I'm sorry I made you cry, gotta go, bye bye!" And with that said, she turned and bolted off.

The lady in the short green jacket smirked, darkly, then looked down at him, holding his dream-stone in her hand. "Hi there, little one," she said, sweetly, but something in her voice made him scared, and as she knelt down, reaching for him, he backed away. "Come here, kid, I won't hurt you."

He stepped back a little further, whimpering softly and wishing that Inuyasha or Miroku were there right now. He had a bad feeling that he was in trouble, and even his father would have been less scary than she was-- his eyes were bad, but hers made his look good. She was a really bad person, he could tell, and he didn't like her. "I...I w-want my Mommy now," he whispered.

She smiled, darkly, at him, then snickered. "If you come with me, I'll take you to her, I promise

She was telling him something that was not true, a lie. He backed up faster, but stumbled over the hem of his robe and landed on his bottom in the grass so hard it hurt. He began to cry again as she got closer. "No! I want my Mommy--AND my Daddy! I don't want to go with you, please, leave me alone!"

"Hush and you might get to see them again--but for now, you're coming with me, mini monk, whether YOU like it or not!"

****

To Be Continued

Xandra: Two cameos down, three to go! Kaylana and Kai-Aki Ti, if you read this, email me and tell me what you think of it so far. As for the rest of my readers, yes, I left you on a cliffhanger again, and my next update is gonna take even longer than this one, probably, because I have to update half my GW fics and BOTH of my original ones, so give me time. Don't forget to review, and sorry for taking so long! ^_^ Hope you liked it!